Sonny Rollins "Plus 4" on SACD

I just got my delivery of Sonny Rollins "Plus 4" on SACD and although it sounds good - it isn't as good as the AP OJC SACDs in regard to sound quality.

The Mono soundstage is quite stable, with quite a bit of depth. Yet the sonics are a bit bright. I was surprised that there didn't seem to be much low-end, yet this recording mostly showed it strengths in the midrange and somewhat in the upper ranges. Even without real low-end response, the drum solos really shined on this release.

One thing I did notice was that there was a noticable stridency to the high end. The cymbals didn't have the same amount of overall smoothness that I experience with the best SACDs - as they showed a bit of graininess. And overall, I felt that things were just a tad brighter than they should have been.

Also, on two cuts when Clifford Brown was soloing there seemed to be either a distortion or a pumping (maybe tape overload) when he hit some strong sounding notes. The sound was almost like a thump or bump. Not having another version of this album on hand I couldn't determine if this noise I was hearing was something common to the mastertape or something specific to this Mobile Fidelity version.

I know that a few months ago when this was announced on SACD, Steve mentioned that he was offered to do this album back with DCC but turned it down due to the condition of the mastertape.

I wonder, if now that this SACD has hit the market, Steve can elaborate on what may have not been up to par with the tape, so I can compare notes with what I am hearing on this SACD.

Overall, the SACD doesn't sound bad, just not on par with all the other Mobile Fidelity SACD releases to date. "Blues in Orbit" is a gem, as are all 3 Patricia Barber discs. This might be the weakest Mobile Fidelity SACD to date, but it still beats out a lot of what you might hear from some of the more mainstream SACD releases on the market.

 

Mike,
Nice review. I totally agree that Blues in Orbit is a gem. I haven't been that enthusuastic about their new releases. I have the Patricia Barber titles and didn't find them that interesting. I wasn't in any hurry to pick up these new titles. I am anxiosly waiting for the Kinks- Give the People What they Want SACD. I think this will be the determining factor if I continue to purchase new Mobile Fidelity releases.
Thanks,
Aaron

 

Hi Mike,

You have described the "sound" of old Rudy Van Gelder 1950's recordings quite well. Too thin and bright, not enough warmth, strident and distorted on peaks.

I've seen a few of Steve Hoffman's mastering notes of a Van Gelder Coltrane and Miles he did in the '90's. Dense paragraphs of notes for each song, MASSIVELY reducing the strident sound of the original tapes, striving for warmth where there really is none, struggling to get some body where there really is none.

Steve knows how to do it, but Steve doesn't work for MoFi I am sorry to say.

 

Thanks for the review, Mike. Sounds like an honest transfer, if not the best one that could have been done. But that's still better than the alternative we've become too familiar with...

ED

 

Wonderful review. Glad that memebers are doing this as high-end product comes out slowly. I was going to ask if anyone had heard the new MFSL yet. Thank you, Mike!

 

Well, I think I'll just buy a $10 OJC LP! Save My money for something else. Thanks, Mike.

 

Thanks for all the nice comments on my little review.